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Prosecutors Prosecutor 'literally ran in high heels' through courthouse hallway to save overdosing woman

By Debra Cassens Weiss

August 1, 2023, 11:34 am CDT

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Assistant State’s Attorney Jaclyn Sopcic (from left); Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow; and Scott DuBois, coordinator of the Problem Solving Courts program. Sopcic is being credited with helping save a woman who was overdosing in the courthouse. Photo from the July 27 press release of the Will County state’s attorney’s office.

A quick-thinking prosecutor is being credited with helping save a woman who was overdosing in the Will County, Illinois, courthouse outside Chicago.

Assistant State’s Attorney Jaclyn Sopcic noticed that the woman was propped against a man who appeared to be speaking with his lawyer while sitting on a bench in the courthouse July 27, according to a July 27 press release.

“I looked at her lips and they were blue,” Sopcic told Shaw Local, which had coverage, along with the Joliet, Illinois, division of Patch.

Sopcic said she knew that the woman needed immediate help based on the experience and training that she received from the state’s attorney’s office. Sopcic is the lead prosecutor in the Will County Problem Solving Courts program, which uses harm-reduction techniques to fight addiction.

“As I personally carry Narcan and also know that we keep it [in] Courtroom 401 for our Problem Solving Courts program, I literally ran in high heels down the hall and grabbed a dose of Narcan from my handbag and a box containing two doses from the courtroom,” Sopcic said in the press release.

Scott DuBois, a psychologist and the program coordinator for the Problem Solving Courts, ran back to the woman with Sopcic and administered three doses of Narcan. Courthouse security personnel administered two more doses while performing CPR.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow praised everyone who helped the woman.

“A few minutes can make the difference between life and death, as demonstrated by what happened today within the walls of our courthouse,” Glasgow said in the press release.

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